Exhale...It May Save Your Life

10/8/2012 4:40PM

A growing number of health problems can be diagnosed by analyzing a patient's breath alone. 'Health Journal' columnist Melinda Beck and the Cleveland Clinic's Dr. Peter Mazzone have the details on Lunch Break.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... in Europe ... if you are sick all and that she is now on she is exploring that ... she's joined us right now here on set we also have Joinus ... Dr ... Peter Ms and he is director of lung cancer program at the Cleveland clinic ... respiratory is to be coming to him in just a minute ... when that very interesting is this is a breath test the new blood test ... yell I think it can be done there's a lot of work yet to be done to validate some of these measures that ... people ways is less invasive breast painful ... has the potential to be ... on much less expensive and and you can do these breath test repeatedly found ... that really have plaguing the patient tonight I'm very quickly before we talk to Dr was and what kinds of diseases are we talking about that they could possibly ... can point ... out liver disease kidney disease tuberculosis two ... diabetes on ... the can even tell whether a heart transplant is being rejected ... aam and the commision can tell you about what the work being done in cancer which is also very excited you love the present your I've been looking at lung cancer specifically down there was ... a success rates that you had using these assets ... the most recent study we been up to eighty five percent accurate in determining who has lung cancer Pierce's ... us to lead Asian group includes smoked but they don't have lung cancer ... and in terms of how the sector were from a layman's terms that can explain to me I would walk in their Brean ... tool for changing the color of what what are you looking for ... jet aircraft this kind of like the exhaust system for body much like their cars and exhaust system ... all of the ... energy we use all of the things that it sells to that ends up producing ... an exhausting that's carried through the blood to our breath ... will we need to be able to do is to distinguish ... the chemicals and oppress the people with cancer from those with no ... we think that because cancer grows differently than normal cells that it's going to produce ... different chemicals board chemicals in different concentrations ... so there's a lot of different sensing that now she's in a all the work by slightly different principles the one we use most often ... is a copper color iMac checks in here and it's a lot of ... colored dots on the sensor these colored dots to meet the ... chemicals that change their color when a different chemical comes in contact with it ... so that ... take the technology that were using ... the look that is changing colors and concerns that hard to find a pattern of climate change is ... its unique track cancer aged the asking is whether breathalyzer they think I have the breath test a ticket to pull over for drinking and driving this is much more sophisticated looking a much more minute particles ... I don't need the efficiencies in this in terms of perhaps cost and distribution of the iPad a test like this ... one again and they have to be that validated and tested on large numbers of people ... and then they can be mass produced but ... they could be ... very much less expensive and Anna's optimism can probably ... explain ... aam some of these tests like the ones they're using cash to be brought to the patient's bedside it on they're they're they're really portable and and can be done a lot of patience leaking ... and sounds so they could be indicative portable kids could take to the school doctors can learn about their medication maybe for as Millwall their school ... and is only asking is does the test ... to learn ... that if if this were to learn about the disease but ... in order to be more effective ... absolutely I think that's the stage of the research read no one is making sure that the equipment ... is to know where this scene every time in every part of the country or the world ... the other is ... learning how to get quick to learn what to censor response it is ... for someone with cancer or for a particular type of cancer versus another type of cancer ... so the more patients we we enroll in these research studies the more breath samples we get ... the better machines will be able to tell ... one breath sample from another stock that is on thank you so much is at the Cleveland nice respite or is it Melinda Beck says are Health Journal columnist is always on your brain is that same research ... the new blood